January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Today's federal court ruling against U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Miami) and Corrine Brown (D-Jacksonville) upheld Florida's new constitutional redistricting standards, which were passed in 2010 as Amendment 6 by 63 percent of voters.

"Today's decision further underscores the League's long-held assertion that Amendment 6 is clearly constitutional," League president Deirdre Macnab said. "This decision should send a clear message to Florida's elected leaders to stop spending taxpayer money on litigation that fights the will of the people."

Monday, January 30, 2012

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), I would like to invite you to attend an upcoming “State of Seniors Health” roundtable discussion with Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday,February 2, 2012 from 2:30 pm 3:30 pm, located at theBeardall Senior Center – 800 Delaney Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801.

Secretary Sebelius will gather with seniors to discuss a variety of protections contained in the health reform law, which benefit them and the Medicare population. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more people with Medicare are receiving their annual wellness visit and preventive services, like mammograms and prostate cancer screenings, for free. The new health care law is also making prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors and people with disabilities.

This roundtable event will be co-hosted by Know Your Care and the Florida Health Alliance statewide partners. At this time, we are requesting your attendance along with other supporters of seniors health. If possible, due to limited seating, please email your RSVP to Jackie Lee,jackie@sunstreamstrategies.com, by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, 2/1/2011. Please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Lee or myself at anytime with questions or concerns. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Bracing for a challenging day Tuesday when I join other LWVOC members as a poll worker at the Winter Park Baptist Church. It is my first experience at doing anything like this and I'm just hoping I don't get a bad case of stage fright.

After three hours of training at the Supervisor of Elections Office and several hours spent going over and over the handbook, I'm all geared up and ready for action. Even checked out the church so I'll know exactly how to get there. Note to self: Remember to pick up a plate of cookies today so we have some afternoon refreshments.

Adopt-a-Precinct Chair Laurie Wack decided that the League should adopt two precincts for the primary. The money we earn goes to the League to help with expenses during a busy election year.

In addition to the presidential preference primary, Winter Park voters will be choosing a mayor. The race is between incumbent Mayor Kenneth Bradley and former mental-health worker Nancy Miles. Maitland will choose a mayor as well. Also on the Orange County ballot is a referendum on whether elected leaders should be able to offer temporary property-tax breaks of up to 100 percent of new equipment and buildings in return for creating jobs that pay more than the county average wage of $47,000.

The three maps must still receive approval from the entire membership of the Florida House of Representatives. The Florida Senate would also have to concur on the State House and Congressional maps. The State Senate map is identical to the map approved by the Florida Senate.

When the full membership of the House convenes this Thursday and Friday, February 2-3, on the House Floor, the maps above will be considered for questions, amendments and debate.

Last week, the House approved special procedures for the Redistricting Committee and the House Floor for redistricting amendments to ensure that members of the House and the public have an opportunity to view any amendments before they are voted upon. Click here to view those special amendment procedures.

To learn more about the Florida House’s redistricting process thus far, check out the resources below:

Saturday, January 28, 2012

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), I would like to invite you to attend an upcoming “State of Seniors Health” roundtable discussion with Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday,February 2, 2012 from 2:30 pm 3:30 pm, located at theBeardall Senior Center – 800 Delaney Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801.

Secretary Sebelius will gather with seniors to discuss a variety of protections contained in the health reform law, which benefit them and the Medicare population. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more people with Medicare are receiving their annual wellness visit and preventive services, like mammograms and prostate cancer screenings, for free. The new health care law is also making prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors and people with disabilities.

This roundtable event will be co-hosted by Know Your Care and the Florida Health Alliance statewide partners. At this time, we are requesting your attendance along with other supporters of seniors health. If possible, due to limited seating, please email your RSVP to Jackie Lee,jackie@sunstreamstrategies.com, by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, 2/1/2011. Please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Lee or myself at anytime with questions or concerns. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Friday, January 27, 2012

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee meets in Tampa this afternoon for a hearing of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights titled "New State Voting Laws II: Protecting the Right to Vote in the Sunshine State."

The chairman is Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois.

The committee will hear from Seminole County Elections Supervisor Michael Ertel, Volusia County Supervisor Ann McFall, former Secretary of State Bruce Smathers, Daryl Parks, president of the National Bar Association, Florida College System Student Government Association President Sarah Pemberton of Clearwater, University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith; and Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the Hillsborough County Courthouse, 800 E. Twiggs Street, Tampa.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Before I grab the vacuum and the duster to begin my least favorite chore -- cleaning -- I wanted to let Sisters Teresa McElwee, Sister Ann Kendrick and Eli Garcia know that I thought of them and their immigration committee team when President Obama called for Congress to send him a version of the DREAM Act.

Obama never used the words Dream Act during his Tuesday night State of the Union address but he did talk about signing a law that would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as young children.

Even if Congress cannot agree on comprehensive immigration reform, "let's at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people," the president said.

How does the League stand on these issues? According to the latest Study and Action, our guide to public policy positions, the League supports provisions "for unauthorized immigrants already in the country to earn legal status."

I always enjoy watching the State of the Union address. It is ka great piece of showmanship from the expressions and actions of Congressional members on the floor to guests in the balcony, manhy of whom often look a little uncomfortable about their fleeting 15-minutes of fame.

Joan Milligan of Orlando was among the 21 guests invited to sit with first lady Michelle Obama while the president delivered his speech. Milligan and her husband were able to keep their home, according to the White House, through an Obama administration program that allowed them to refinance once they had exhausted all other options.

And who can forget the smiles and courage of U.S. Rep. Gaby Giffords as she mingled with other members prior to the president's speech. Today, Giffords will submit her resignation. The Arizona congresswoamn needs more time to recover from the brain injury she received just over a year ago when she was shot by a deranged gunman.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Tallahassee, FL -- The League of Women Voters of Florida, National Council of La Raza's Florida state operation (formerly known as Democracia, Inc.), and Florida Common Cause have submitted a unique House redistricting plan and an updated Senate plan for consideration by the Legislature and have asked House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford to offer them to his committee for consideration at their meeting this Friday, January 27.

The legislative plans submitted are unique in that they "nest" three House districts into each Senate district. "Nesting" would give the voters the advantage of having a more efficient and logical form of representation with a dedicated delegation that can work together to serve the needs of their communities. Nesting would make it easy for voters to know their Senator and Representative and would create a political community within a reasonably compact area.

This nesting concept is exactly what the Fair Districts amendments were intended to produce: compact, common sense, non-gerrymandered districts that were created without regard for protecting incumbents or political parties.

We have asked Chairman Weatherford to offer our maps as strike-all amendments and alternatively, if he is unwilling, we have asked that any other member of the committee offer them.

A similar offer was made to Chairman Gaetz and the members of the Senate Reapportionment Committee on January 6, 2012.* Not a single incumbent was willing to offer the maps up for a vote. Click to read our letters to Chairmen Weatherford and Gaetz.

We hope the House committee will be open to passing maps that are drawn with no partisan intent, no intent to protect incumbents and are otherwise fully compliant with the FairDistricts amendments.

*Although the letter to Chairman Gaetz is dated December 6, 2012, it was meant to say January 6, 2012 and was sent on January 6 of this year.

I know that I should be engrossed in weightier subjects, but the story in today's Orlando Sentinel that lingered in my mind and caused a few tears was the one about Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger reuniting his wounded son with the puppy he rescued in Afghanistan. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/os-eslinger-son-recovering-20120123,0,5873021.story

Back in the summer, Donny Eslinger stashed the puppy in his backpack for the hike back to the checkpoint where he was stationed. The puppy, named Smoke, became a sensation when a photo of Eslinger with puppy in his backpack made the cover of Army Life magazine, according to Sentinel reporter Gary Taylor who wrote the story.

Smoke was a huge morale booster but a little more than a month after he rescued the pup, Donny Eslinger, 20, was hit by mortar fire while on patrol. He suffered a chest wound, head injury, broken ribs and a broken leg. He also lost his spleen.

Donny has had a tough time, undergoing various surgeries and is now back at Walter Reed in Bethesda. Meanwhile, fellow soldiers in Afghanistan made arrangements to reunite him with the dog. Sheriff Eslinger has arranged to board the dog with a local vet so he can take Smoke to see his son when he visits him in the hospital. The sheriff told the Sentinel that his son is doing remarkably well. "I'm just so proud of him and how far he has come."

In my other life I started the Sentinel's Animal Crazy blog, filling my spare time blogging about our furry friends. I'm betting the story of Donny and Smoke will be a winner.

Did you know that Florida is the most dangerous metro area in the nation for pedestrians and bicyclists - and that Orlando is the worst place in Florida?

These facts cannot be blamed on Florida’s transportation planning process as written. Each step is choreographed to bring together all planning agencies in an effort to address the transportation needs of all people including“access to intermodal facilities, support of pedestrian and bike modes, and consideration of the overall social, economic, energy, and environmental effects of the plan.”

So what went wrong?The quagmire caused by the mix of politics, pressure to satisfy the majority of citizens who see no need to fund anything but roads, and the lack of power and/or will by those who do care has created Florida’s chaotic transportation planning system.

What are Florida’s powerbrokers doing about it?

1. The Legislature and Governor made the Department of Community Affairs into an agency that could no longer oversee the state planning process-the watch dog it was designed to be.

2. US Representative John Mica moved to eliminate the requirement that 10 percent of federal gas tax proceeds be used for sidewalks and bike lanes.

3. Governor Scott’s Secretary of Transportation testified before Congress that since money is tight that it might not make sense to build sidewalks and bikeways.

With all of the various federal, states, regional and local transportation agencies competing rather than coordinating with other, the idea that I and others had over the years of reaching consensus on a best practices plan of action appears to be a pipe dream.

Should we give up? Absolutely not! The League, historically, takes up causes that benefit those who have no voice. Transportation issues crisscross all of our major positions from the environment to access to voting.

Special thanks to all local Leagues that have been studying transportation planning in their regions. Your input continues to inform elected and appointed officials about the importance of planning and implementing a comprehensive transportation network that meets the needs of all citizens.

Since a minimal number of local Leagues have been participating in this study, the likelihood of reaching statewide consensus on questions dealing with best practices is remote.

The Leagues that are participating will continue sending in reports on their findings and the LWVF study committee will extrapolate questions that can be used for consensus. If you have been working on the study, please send in any and all of your findings.